Sperm concentration has declined 50 percent in 40 years in Western men

[teach1st]

Source: Washington Post

The quality of sperm from men in North America, Europe and Australia has declined dramatically over the past 40 years, with a 52.4 percent drop in sperm concentration, according to a study published Tuesday.

The research — the largest and most comprehensive look at the topic, involving data from 185 studies and 42,000 men around the world between 1973 and 2011 — appears to confirm fears that male reproductive health may be declining.

The state of male fertility has been one of the most hotly debated subjects in medical science in recent years. While a number of previous studies found that sperm counts and quality have been falling, some dismissed or criticized the studies over factors such as the age of the men included, the size of the study, bias in counting systems or other aspects of the methodologies.

...

The analysis found drops only for men in Europe, North America and Australia and not for those in South America, Asia and Africa. Swan explained that this could mean that there's something specific to certain cultures or regions that affects sperm, but that it's also possible that there just isn't enough data yet to draw firm conclusions about the rest of the world. There have been far fewer sperm studies conducted in non-Western countries. (Some of the most recent ones have also noted a decline in aspects of sperm quality. A study published earlier this year about China's Hunan province found that 56 percent of sperm donations met the criteria for health in 2001 vs. only 18 percent in 2015.)


Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/07/25/sperm-concentration-has-declined-50-percent-in-40-years/

[Aristus]

1. Makes sense.

Mother Earth is ensuring a declining fertility rate on a polluted, overcrowded planet, among the people doing most of the polluting.

[hamsterjill]

4. Sounds plausible to me.

Just like the elephant killing the elephant killer. Sometimes Mother Earth reminds us who is actually in charge.

[LanternWaste]

12. I don't think a planet maintains

I don't think a planet maintains the sentience to ensure what humans can or cannot do.

[Aristus]

13. But how can we be sure?...

[paleotn]

32. Sentience is not required.

From the outside, it may look like the actions of some sentient entity to some, but in reality, it's just natural processes doing their thing. No thinking or reasoning required. No matter our numbers or level of so called technological achievement, we're still at the mercy of those natural processes that have exterminated possibly millions of species and damn near wiped us out more than once.

[TexasBushwhacker]

21. I'm all for the planet be8ng less crowded

But why are sperm counts not going down in Asia, South America and Africa?

[FSogol]

2. Well....

[paleotn]

33. Ha!!!

[Sunlei]

3. inbred males.

[Not Ruth]

5. Is this only confined to males?

Western women have been going through a great many heroic measures to have children in the last few decades, no link no study, just my anecdotal view.

[meadowlander]

16. That's probably primarily because they wait until later in life to have kids

and their fertility level naturally decrease with age.

I do think the massive amount of chemicals that permeate our existence probably lead to a drop in fertility as well for both men and women. Most people in developed countries eat rubbish, live in houses cleaned by god knows what and made of materials leaching all kinds of crap, breathe exhaust fumes all day, are surrounded by gadgets that emit radiation, swim in treated pools, drink treated water, walk on lawns and under street trees sprayed with pesticides and on and on.

Constant stress could be a contributor as well. Most people work long hours sitting down and have no job security.

Who knows what factor or combination of factors would result in a drop in sperm count?

[Thor_MN]

23. The sperm count for women in North American, was zero in this study...

[BeyondGeography]

26. Wow

That's a big drop.

[Thor_MN]

29. Probably can blame that on the men...

[tazkcmo]

30. Actually

It's been fairly consistent over the last 20 years or so fluctuating between zero and none.

[Achilleaze]

6. Better living through chemistry

except for the little spermies (and the various tissues and organs of the human body).

[paleotn]

7. Handmaid's Tale.

[marlakay]

24. I immediately thought of that book

Scary...

[Paladin]

8. Hey, I've got an excuse.

Any time I come across an image of Ann Coulter, I can feel my sperm count drop.

[irisblue]

35. ::snort::

[Paladin]

38. I used that line on a conservative site, years ago.

The Coulter worshippers hounded me about it for months. Very satisfying.

[irisblue]

40. You are a hero

[Paladin]

43. Nah. I'm just a pissed-off old liberal. (nt)

[earthshine]

9. Boxers vs. briefs

The Seinfeld dilemma.

If you heat up your swimmers by a few degrees, they don't work so well.

Here's a joke ...

When asked about it, the old man said, "Depends."

[IronLionZion]

10. The world has plenty of people and orphaned children

it could be time for more to consider adoption.

[benld74]

11. Just another Climate happening, nothing to see here folk

[Doug the Dem]

14. Less People in the Industralized World?

Probably not a bad thing!

[flibbitygiblets]

15. Just one more step toward "the Handmaid's Tale" coming true

When Pence becomes Prez, I'm getting my tubes tied.

[Squinch]

37. And when it does come true, it WILL be considered women's faults, even though it is a sperm issue.

Because, hey, that's how we roll...

[maxrandb]

17. That explains the rise of Conservatism n/t

[Squinch]

36. Interesting. How so?

[maxrandb]

39. Well

Tongue in cheek, I mean

Less Sperm = Less Testosterone = More "chicken-shit" = Voting Republican

[Egnever]

18. So handmaid's tale any day now?

[brooklynite]

19. My sperm count is zero, so no biggie for me...

[BigmanPigman]

20. Too manynpeople on Earth as it is.

Older men are having children, people are living longer, etc.

I wonder if there is any relation to incresed autism?

[flying_wahini]

22. I hav long said that the increase is n testicular cancer and low sperm count is related to

Cell phones carried in men's back pockets. It has been argued that the low levels of radiation coming off cell phones in such close proximity can't be a good idea.

[Thor_MN]

25. The electromagnetic waves from cell phones are not energetic enough to affect the top layer of skin,

much less cells a foot away, through the body. At least if you are going to claim this nonsense, say it is from carrying the phone in the front pocket.. The "radiation" from cell phones is electromagnetic waves, which is not the same as the "radiation" from radioactive material.

Your claim make no more sense than vaccines causing autism.

[obamanut2012]

41. lulz

Yeah, no.

[Squinch]

27. I've got one word for you: Plastics.

[hunter]

34. Cash register receipt plastic too...

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/03/the-health-risk-of-bpa-in-receipts/index.htm

[appleannie1943]

28. We all eat genetically modified food so it stands to reason our genetics will decline.

The people in S. America, Asia and Africa all eat real food.

[Demonaut]

31. mines fine

[Liberallover976]

42. hold on

the decline of population in western europe, north america, and australia is not good news for people on the left.

those populations that are growing tend to be more traditional, more religious, and more conservative.

eventually as libral populations decline, the people replacing them will be on the right.

so for every liberal kid who is born, two to thre conservative kids will be born, and that's not good news in the long run.